Antique residents arm selves vs NPA
02/26/2007 | 09:13 AM
Upon the "encouragement" of the local Army unit there, residents of Antique province are reportedly carrying firearms to "protect" themselves from the communist New People's Army (NPA).
Sun-Star Iloilo reported Monday that the move aims to protect residents of Sitio Apong in Cabladan village in Sibalom town.
Lieutenant Col. Nestor Porculas of the Philippine Army's 79th Infantry Battalion reminded folks in the sitio that they must use the firearms "only against NPA rebels."
Porculas cited in particular members of the NPA's Napoleon Tumagtang Command, who seized one Jomar Magalan and killed him for alleged offenses against the movement.
He pointed out that local residents of Cabladan in the town of Sibalom had left their homes after the rebels abducted and killed Magalan.
Sibalom is a third-class town in Antique, and is known as the province's rice bowl. It has a population of 49,971 people in 9,768 households.
The NPA's Southern Front Panay Committee recently called on the people to return to their homes, claiming the killing of Magalan was an isolated case.
Its spokesman Ka Areston Remus said they punished Magalan for what he did to the movement and that the community is not liable for his deeds.
The rebels, in a press statement, assured the public that peace and order has been restored in the area. Magalan's killing triggered a mass evacuation of local folks who feared that they might be next.
Magalan, reportedly a military informer, was placed summarily executed by rebels operating in southern Iloilo and Antique. Local residents of Sitio Apong condemned the killing.
Meanwhile, in Mindanao, Sun-Star Cagayan de Oro reported that communist rebels faced with scant supply of food and other logistical problems are now slowly moving into the lowlands.
Major Samuel Sagun, Army 4th Infantry Brigade spokesman, said sustained military operations have sent the NPA scampering to lowland coastal towns east of Misamis Oriental.
Sagun said this resulted last week in the arrest of a ranking communist rebel.
"They now have a substantial presence in some coastal, setting up cells and moving clandestinely among the population," Sagun said.
He said "bigwigs and several big businesses in the province, probably through force and intimidation" are indirectly backing the rebels. He did not name names.
However, activists claimed that the military's effort to flush out communist insurgents is being done at the expense of human rights.
In Salay and Balingasag towns, two of the province's eastern municipalities branded by military as rebel lairs, continued and increasing military presence has resulted in various cases of violence and other human rights violations.
Early this month, a 74-year-old activist was killed in Salay, where another militant was killed last year. Both killings, all blamed by leftist groups on the military, remain unsolved.
Sagun admitted the military has conducted house-to-house "survey" in Salay, but was unable to say whether this move was meant to track down rebels who have gone down the hinterlands.
Lawyer Beverly Musni, head of the human rights group Karapatan in Northern Mindanao, said the act of conducting "census" to the local population constitute human rights violation, especially that the residents are being asked on their organizational affiliations.
Those who are members of militant organizations, she said, are being singled out as NPA members. - GMANews.TV
Sun-Star Iloilo reported Monday that the move aims to protect residents of Sitio Apong in Cabladan village in Sibalom town.
Lieutenant Col. Nestor Porculas of the Philippine Army's 79th Infantry Battalion reminded folks in the sitio that they must use the firearms "only against NPA rebels."
Porculas cited in particular members of the NPA's Napoleon Tumagtang Command, who seized one Jomar Magalan and killed him for alleged offenses against the movement.
He pointed out that local residents of Cabladan in the town of Sibalom had left their homes after the rebels abducted and killed Magalan.
Sibalom is a third-class town in Antique, and is known as the province's rice bowl. It has a population of 49,971 people in 9,768 households.
The NPA's Southern Front Panay Committee recently called on the people to return to their homes, claiming the killing of Magalan was an isolated case.
Its spokesman Ka Areston Remus said they punished Magalan for what he did to the movement and that the community is not liable for his deeds.
The rebels, in a press statement, assured the public that peace and order has been restored in the area. Magalan's killing triggered a mass evacuation of local folks who feared that they might be next.
Magalan, reportedly a military informer, was placed summarily executed by rebels operating in southern Iloilo and Antique. Local residents of Sitio Apong condemned the killing.
Meanwhile, in Mindanao, Sun-Star Cagayan de Oro reported that communist rebels faced with scant supply of food and other logistical problems are now slowly moving into the lowlands.
Major Samuel Sagun, Army 4th Infantry Brigade spokesman, said sustained military operations have sent the NPA scampering to lowland coastal towns east of Misamis Oriental.
Sagun said this resulted last week in the arrest of a ranking communist rebel.
"They now have a substantial presence in some coastal, setting up cells and moving clandestinely among the population," Sagun said.
He said "bigwigs and several big businesses in the province, probably through force and intimidation" are indirectly backing the rebels. He did not name names.
However, activists claimed that the military's effort to flush out communist insurgents is being done at the expense of human rights.
In Salay and Balingasag towns, two of the province's eastern municipalities branded by military as rebel lairs, continued and increasing military presence has resulted in various cases of violence and other human rights violations.
Early this month, a 74-year-old activist was killed in Salay, where another militant was killed last year. Both killings, all blamed by leftist groups on the military, remain unsolved.
Sagun admitted the military has conducted house-to-house "survey" in Salay, but was unable to say whether this move was meant to track down rebels who have gone down the hinterlands.
Lawyer Beverly Musni, head of the human rights group Karapatan in Northern Mindanao, said the act of conducting "census" to the local population constitute human rights violation, especially that the residents are being asked on their organizational affiliations.
Those who are members of militant organizations, she said, are being singled out as NPA members. - GMANews.TV
